Kash Ali (born Kashuf Ali) is a British Pakistani professional boxer. He has won 21 out of his 22 professional bouts.
Ali is also the first Pakistani to hold Europe’s heavyweight crown.
Heavyweight boxing champion Kash Ali
Ali is trained by former boxing world champion Junior Witter. He also trained with former professional heavyweight boxer Richard Towers in a Rotherham gym.
Ali went pro without an amateur background at age 19. The boxer debuted in Rotherham, England, in 2011 against British heavyweight James Oliphant.
In 2018 Ali won the vacant British Boxing Board of Control Central Area title. He prevailed in a bout against David Howe in a Birmingham arena.
In March 2019 Ali was disqualified for biting his opponent David Price in a Liverpool heavyweight contest. Ali faced a ban from boxing and returned to the arena eight months later.
The heavyweight champion went on to collect six more wins. The latest bout was against Rhys Kaney in a Sheffield arena in February 2022.
Kash Ali trained with his Father
Ali was born in Birmingham, England in 1992. His parents raised him and his brother in the working class neigborhood of Rotterham. He is a Sufi Muslim.
“When you have faith and follow a religion – I follow Islam – it gives you peace of mind,” Ali said in an interview with Boxing King Media. “So many boxers fall in love with this world. Materialistic stuff…It’s all about peace, loving one another, and just being good to one another.”
“I did go to college for about one or two weeks,” the heavyweight champ explained. “I can’t sit in a classroom. No way. Not for me.”
“Boxing saved me,” he said. “It kept me on track. It kept me away from trouble.”
The boxer’s father, Dildar Ali, passed away shortly after the 2018 win against David Howe.
“I lost my father, who also did my corner, soon after [the match] and that was a really difficult time.” Ali told Birmingham Live. “He was there to see me get my belt, which means a lot to me.”
“I’m the oldest,” said Ali. “I have to stay strong for my mom, my brother, my family. And carry on the journey that we started together…At the same time I feel like he’s still here. I still feel him in the gym when I’m training. So to me it’s more motivation.”
Kash Ali won the IBF European Title
Ali currently holds the International Boxing Federation European heavyweight title. He won the vacant title in May 2021 at the Sheffield Arena against Czech fighter Tomas Salek. The match was Ali’s 20th professional fight.
“I’m the first British-Pakistani heavyweight,” Ali told iFL TV after the match. “There’s never been one.”
“It feels great,” Ali told the Rotherham Advertiser. “I paced myself a bit and landed a shot we’ve been working on in the gym and got him out of there. I feel like I’m coming into my prime now. I’m a threat to anyone in the heavyweight division.”
